Nice post. This is some real talk. This is the reason for 5:19 of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOgd8MK-m_Y
Nothing has changed but the way we are presented to American. That's it. Most American people believe everything they see on screen and in print, so however someone/something is portrayed, that's what they'll believe.
One example: When we were presented as drug users in the 80's, that's what most Americans believed (some even black). And this was while the FBI's own statistics --the facts in this country-- said the exact opposite. And the same way the FBI released those statistics back then and it amounted to nothing is the same way news outlets today release a nugget of truth amidst tons of deceit and it amounts to nothing.